WEBVTT

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Unknown: Pendleton's iconic
designs have been a fixture of

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North American life since the
early 20th century successfully

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running a business marketed to
both indigenous and non

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indigenous Americans. To this
day, the company says 50% of its

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blankets are sold to indigenous
people. The company began in

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1863 when Thomas K an English
Weaver moved to the US state of

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Oregon, where he began the
woolen business that now six

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generations later, is still run
by his descendants. At the

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factory. His daughter, Fanny was
his assistant and mill

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operation, learning all about
the trade. But when her father

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died in 1900, he left the mill
to his sons only eight years

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after her father's death, Fanny
and her husband Charles pleasant

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Bishop bought a competing
factory, then failing Pendleton

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woolen Mills, the bishops
transformed it into what is

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known best for today by
introducing their infamous

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patterned wool blankets. The
bolt patterns created a hybrid

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of cymbals from various
indigenous tribes and

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geometrical patterns from
European and Oriental

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influences. These patterns were
designed by an expert at the

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modern technology of the
Jacquard loom, which helped

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create intricate patterns
faster. Joseph Rawnsley spent

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time on indigenous reserves
where his research and worked at

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the company until his death in
1929. Surprisingly, Pendleton

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blankets became a symbol of
honor and respect in indigenous

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populations, and the giving of a
Pendleton blanket still

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accompanies important occasions
of some indigenous peoples in

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America. During the mid 20th
century, the company began to

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market the true Indian designs
on these blankets to non

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indigenous populations,
sometimes advertising in vogue.

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Although the company has
connected to indigenous

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communities with college funds
and collaborations with

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indigenous artists and
craftspeople. More recently,

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some indigenous people do not
like the collaborations like the

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high end one with the Manhattan
bass brand opening ceremony. In

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a blog post on Native
appropriations, Adrian Kean

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writes, it's a complicated
feeling, but I feel ownership

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over these designs as a native
person. But on a rational level,

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I realize that they aren't
necessarily ours to claim